ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet has appointed Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Sayed Zulfikar Bukhari as an acting chairman of a 25-member National Tourism Coordination Board (NTCB).
The NTCB and its nine working groups has been established with the approval of Prime Minister Imran Khan, read a notification issued by the cabinet division.
The working groups included Cultural, Heritage and Archeology, Eco-Tourism, Branding and Tourism Marketing, Regulatory and Policy Reforms, Religious Tourism, Adventure Tourism, Infrastructure Development and Facilitation, Trans-Himalayan Jeep Rally and Investment Encouraging group.
The board, approved by the federal cabinet in its recent meeting, was aimed at strengthening coordination among international, federal and provincial level tourism departments to encourage tourism industry.
It would devise a policy to highlight true potential of country’s tourism sector through promotional campaigns and marketing, the notification added.
The NTCB would work out different strategies to attract investment in tourism sector with the help of Economic Affair Division, Board of Investment (BoI) and other relevant departments.
The board would help the provinces to formulate a regulatory framework for ensuring quality standards in the field of hospitality, besides extending technical assistance to them.
The NTCB would also coordinate with the provincial authorities to make sure the country’s representation in tourism related international units and expos.
The NTCB had also been asked to provide a platform to the provinces for deliberating over the future action plan to boost tourism activities in the country.
The implementation of rules and regulation pertaining to the no objection certificate and new visa policy would be responsibility of the board.
The BoI chairman, Inter-Provincial Coordination secretary, all four provinces, Azad and Jammu Kashmir and Gilgat Baltistan tourism departments’ officials, Pakistan Association of Tour Operators chairman, Travel Agents Association chairman, Pakistan Hotel Association chairman and some private members would be the part of the board.
